Needle threading mechanism for sewing machines



Nov. 4,1952 7 A. P. FILIP 2,516,331

V NEEDLE THREADING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINES Filed Sept. 1, 1950 24WE v I Jkvenioz 4 y -9- J W QW wane n5 mm 6 W @65594 49 filzfozneyPatented Nov. 4, 1952 NEEELE THREADING MECHANISM FOR SEWING MACHINESAndrew P. Filip, Bridgeport, Coma, assignor to The Singer ManufacturingCompany, Elizabeth, N. 3., a corporation of New Jersey ApplicationSeptember 1, 1950, Serial No. 182,865

7 Claims.

This invention relates to needle-threading devices for use with sewingmachines, and more specifically to a needle-threading device which isadapted to be detachably secured to the needlebar of a sewing machine.

It is an object of the invention to provide a means whereby the needleof a sewing machine may be threaded with-out requiring the operatormanually to seek out the needle-eye in the usual manner of threadingneedles. Accordingly, this invention comprises a threading device whichis adapted to be secured upon the sewing machine needle-bar, and itincludes a needle-threading element which is controlled by simple handoperations and which automatically guides a thread-receiving portion ofthe threading element through the eye of the needle. Once the threadingelement is projected through the needle-eye, it becomes a simpleprocedure to thread the threading element by engaging the threadtherewith. Thereafter, the present device is adapted automatically towithdraw the threading element through the needle-eye thereby to threadthe needle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a threading deviceof the above noted character which, although efficient in operation, isat the same time relatively inexpensive of manufacture.

A' further object of the present invention is to provide such athreading device which can be applied to a sewing machine of the typehaving an eye-pointed needle, the bore axis of which eye is alignedsubstantially with the presserbar.

With the above and other objects in View, as will hereinafter appear,the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements or"parts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawingsof a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the severalfeatures of the invention and the advantages attained thereby will bereadily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of the head end of asewing machine to which the present device has been applied, the fulllines illustrating the device in its operative position, while thedotted lines illustrate the device in its throw-out or inoperativeposition.

Fig. 2 is a right hand side View in elevation of the device as disclosedin Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary back side View in elevation of the devicedisclosed in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 44 of Fig.1.

Fig. 5 represents, on an enlarged scale, the lower end portion of thepresent threading device.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the line 6-8 ofFig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a right hand side view, partly in section of the devicedisclosed in Fig. 1, and it illustrates the device as being biased intoits thread-receiving position.

Fig. 8 is a View similar to Fig. 7, but it illustrates the threadingelement in its retracted position with the thread pulled through the eyeof the needle.

Fig. 9 represents, on an enlarged scale, a sectional View takensubstantially along the line 9-9 of Fi 1.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the portion of a sewing machineshown includes the part of the sewing machine head Iii which supportsthe usual reciprocatory needle-bar II and the presser-bar I2 which isdisposed rearwardly of the needle-bar and in parallelism therewith. Thelower end portion of the presser-bar carries a conventional presser-footdesignated by the numeral 13.

The lower end portion of the needle-bar H is reduced, as at Hi, and uponthis reduced portion is provided a sleeve-member 15. This sleevememberis provided with a longitudinal slot it to enable the sleeve to beclamped about the lower end portion It or the needle-bar, as by means ofa bolt ll. Mounted upon a reduced lower end portion it of the sleeve I5is a collar l8 which functions, by means of screw 9, to clamp a needle20 within the slotted portion l6 of the sleeve l5. This needle is of theconventional sewing machine type provided with a thread or needle-eye 2Bproximate to its point. It is to be particularly observed that the boreaxis of the needle-eye 2G is aligned substantially with the presser-bari2. The collar I8 not only functions to secure the needle in its properposition, but it also carries a stationary needlethread guide 2! throughthe medium of a locking screw 22. For a more complete disclosure of asewing machine of the present type, reference may be had to the UnitedStates patent of Blames, No. 2,024,435, December 17, 1935.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 4 and 9, the present needle-threadingdevice comprises a substantially rectangular block 23 which is providedwith a circular aperture 24 which permits the block to be mounteddirectly upon the sleeve 15 3 between the locking bolt I1 and the collarl8. Threaded into the block 23, and communicating with the aperture 24,is a lock screw 25, of which the inner end portion 26 is adapted to beinserted forcibly within the slot l6 for the purpose of locking theblock in any desired position of vertical adjustment; it beingunderstood that the collar [8 may be removed from the sleeve l in orderto permit the block 23 to be positioned over the sleeve.

Threaded into the rear face of the block 23 is a screw 21 having acylindrical bearing surface or shoulder portion 28 which abuts directlyagainst the face 2 of the block. The screw 21 is also provided with theusual slotted head portion 36. portion 28 of the screw 21 is a sheetmetal arm, generally designated by the numeral 3|. More specifically,the upper or head portion of the arm 3| is provided with an aperture 32entered by the cylindrical bearing surface 28 of the screw, and a springwasher 33 is interposed between the head portion of the screw and thearm 3| so as to bias the arm into frictional contact with the block 23.The lower end portion of the arm 3| is provided with a finger piece 34,while its intermediate section is formed with a substantially narrowneck designated by the numeral 35, which neck provides a fiexure pointabout which the lower end portion of the arm may be bent in response toa biasing movement applied against the finger piece 34. In other words,the arm 3| is made of relatively thin resilient sheet metal material andthe neck portion 35, being relatively narrow, permits the lower portionof the arm to be flexed about a horizontal axis which is disposedsubstantially at 90 to the axis of the screw 21 about which the entirearm may pivot.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1, 3 and 5, the lower end portion of thearm 3| is provided at one side edge thereof with a shoulder piece 36formed with a vertically disposed slot 37 and a pair of bent and spacedear-elements 38 and 3d. These ear-elementsfunction as guide memberswhich embrace the needle 28 whenever the lower end portion of the arm isbiased toward the needle in a manner as is particularly disclosed inFig. '7.

As may be best seen from Figs. 3 and 6, the rear face of the arm 3|carries a member 40 by means of a screw 45 which passes through anaperture provided in the member 36 so as to be threadedly secured withinthe arm portion itself. The free end portion 42 of the member 4!! isbent at right angles to the member so as to project forwardly throughthe slot 3i of the arm 3|. This forward portion 42 of the member 4!} isprovided with a conventional thread-engaging hook 43 which, when the arm3| is biased toward the needle in a manner disclosed in Fig. 7, passesthrough the eye 2|) of the needle to receive a loop of needle thread 53which may be manually presented thereto. As soon as the forward biasingpressure against the arm 3| is released, the arm will spring back awayfrom the needle so as to withdraw the thread-loop through the needleeye20, thereby to thread the needle. Thereafter, the thread may be removedfrom the hook 43 and a desired length of the thread may be pulledthrough the needle-eye.

It will be appreciated that the arms 38 and 39 will engage the sides ofthe needle 2!] whenever the arm 3| is biased toward the needle so as toguide the hook element 43 of the threading device through theneedle-eye. Also, it will be observed Pivotally mounted upon theshoulder,

that the longitudinal axis of the hook element 43 is disposedsubstantially in parallelism with the axis of the screw 21 about whichthe arm 3| pivots.

The upper portion of the arm 3| is provided with a head portion 4-4, theperiphery of Which is provided with a pair of angularly spaced clefts orslots 45 and 46. Cleft 46 is normally adapted to be engaged by the freeend portion 47 of an index arm 48 secured to the block 23 by means of ascrew 49. This screw 49 is threaded directly into the block 23 as isbest disclosed in Fig. 9. With the arm 41 received within the cleft 45in a manner as disclosed in Figs. 1 and 3, the arm 3| is maintained inits operative position in which the hook 43' is in substantial alignmentwith the eye 20 of the needle so that whenever the lower portion of thearm 3| is biased toward the needle the hook will be forced to enter theneedle-eye. Between the two angularly spaced clefts 45 and 46, there isprovided an arcuate surface 50 over which the arm 41 is adapted to ridewhenever the arm 3| is moved in a counterclockwise direction as viewedin Fig. 1. By so moving the arm in the clockwise direction, the entireneedlethreading device will be swung into its inoperative position, atwhich point the arm 47. will then engage the cleft 45 for the purpose ofmaintaining the arm in this position which is illustrated in Fig. 1 bymeans of dotted lines. The arm 4'1 is sufficiently resilient to permitthe arm 3| to be shifted about its pivot so as to move the arm 41 overthe arcuate surface 5|). However, the head portion 44 of the arm 3| isprovided with two abutment members 5| and 52 which are radially spacedat a greater distance from the pivot screw 21 than the surface 48 so asto prevent the arm 3| from being turned beyond a predetermined positionin either direction.

From the above, it will be understood that the present thread-engagingdevice comprises a substantially unitary attachment which may beremovably secured to the needle-bar of a usual type sewing machine. Theblock 23 is adapted to be adjusted vertically along the sewing machineneedle-bar so as to position the hook-element 43 in a proper positionrelative to the eye of the needle. During the normal use of the sewingmachine proper, the arm portion 3| of the needlethreading device isadapted to be positioned in a manner as illustrated in Fig. 1 by meansof the dotted lines. In order to employ the present device for threadinga needle, the lower portion of the arm 3| may be swung downwardly in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, until the index arm 4'!engages with the cleft 45 in which position the hook 43 will always bealigned with the needle aperture 29'. Thereafter, the lower portion ofthe arm 3! may be biased toward the needle so as to swing the hookthroughthe needleeye at which juncture the hook may be threaded,whereupon the finger piece may be released permitting the arm to returnagain to its normal position. This latter movement of the arm functionsto draw the bight of the thread through the eye of the needle in amanner as indicated in Fig. 8. Thereafter, the free end of the threadmay be manually drawn through the needle-eye after which the arm 3| ofthe threading device may be swung upwardly t its inoperative posh tionwhich is such that the device will not interfere with the normaloperation of the sewing machine.

It is pertinent to note that in a sewing machine of the type disclosedin Figs. 1 and 2, the needle '20 has its eye 20 aligned substantiallywith the presser-bar l2, and thus it is necessary to provide a needlethreader which is positioned directly between the axes of thepresser-bar and needle bar. The present threading device has beenparticularly designed to facilitate the threading of a needle employedin a sewing machine of this character. Those skilled in the art willreadily understand that in order to thread a needle of this characterthe usual type of needle-threading device would be of no avail for thesimple reason that there would not be enough space between the needleand presser-bars to permit the use thereof. Thus, the present deviceprovides a novel and most useful unit for facilitating the threading ofa needle, and at the same time it provides a mechanism which isinexpensive-of manufacture.

' Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

l. A needle-threading device for a sewing machine having a needle-barand an eye-pointed needle carried by said needle-bar, comprising, aclamping member adapted to be secured to said needle-bar, an elongatedarm, a thread-engaging hook carried upon one end portion of said arm,the other end portion of said arm being pivotally mounted upon saidclamping member and about an axis disposed substantially in parallelismwith the longitudinal axis of said hook, thereby to permit said hook tobe shifted into and out of alignment with the needle-eye, thehook-carrying end of said arm being rockable relative to said clamp andin a path disposed substantially in parallelism with the longitudinalaxis of said hook thereby to permit said hook to be shifted in and outof the needle-eye whenever said hook is disposed in alignment therewith,and means carried by said clamping member for releasably locking saidarm in either of two angularly spaced positions of its pivotal movementthereby to maintain said hook either in or out of a position ofalignment with the needle-eye.

2. A needle-threading device for a sewing machine having a needle-barand an eye-pointed needle carried by said needle-bar, comprising, aclamping member adapted to be secured to said needle-bar, an elongatedarm flexible in one direction and having one end portion thereofpivotally secured to said clamping member about an axis disposedsubstantially at right angles to the direction of arm flexure thereby topermit said arm to be shifted into and out of parallelism with theneedle, and an elongated thread-engaging hook carried upon the other endportion of said arm and being disposed with its longitudinal axissubstantially in parallelism with the axis of pivotal movement of saidarm thereby to permit said hook to be shifted in and out of theneedle-eye in response to flexing movements of said arm whenever saidarm is disposed in parallelism with the needle.

3. A needle-threading device for a sewing machine having a needle-barand an eye-pointed needle carried by said needle-bar, comprising, aclamping member adapted to be secured to said needle-bar, an elongatedarm flexible in one direction and having one end portion thereofpivotally secured to said clamping member about an axis disposedsubstantially at right angles to the direction of arm flexure thereby topermit said arm to be shifted into and out of parallelism with theneedle, the said one end portion of said arm having a pair of spacedslots therein, an elongated thread-engaging hook carried uponthe otherend portion of said arm and being disposed with its longitudinal axissubstantially in parallelism with the axis of pivotal movement of saidarm thereby to'permit said hook to be shifted in and out of theneedle-eye in response to flexing movements of said arm whenever saidarm is disposed in parallelism with the needle, and an element carriedby said clamping member for releasably engaging either one of said twoslots thereby to maintain said hook either in or out of a position ofalignment with the needle-eye.

l. A needle-threading device for a sewing machine having a needle-barand an eye-pointed needle carried by said needle-bar, comprising aclamping member adapted to be secured to said needle-bar, asubstantially flat elongated sheet metal arm flexible in one directionand having a relatively narrow neck portion formed crosswise thereof andintermediate its ends for the purpose of localizing the area of armflexure, one end portion of said arm being pivotally secured to saidclamping member with the neck portion of said arm disposed adjacent saidclamping member, the pivotal axis of said arm being disposedsubstantially at right angles to the direction of arm flexture, anelongated thread-engaging hook carried upon the other end portion ofsaid arm and being disposed with its longitudinal axis in substantialparallelism with the direction of arm flexure, thereby to permit saidhook to be shifted in and out of the needle-eye in response to flexinmovements of said arm.

5. In a sewing machine having a reciprocatory needle-bar, an eye-pointedneedle carried by said needle-bar, and a presser-bar disposed inparallelism with said needle-bar and in substantial alignment with theneedle-eye, the combination therewith of a needle-threading device,comprising, a bearing surface provided upon said needlebar and defininga fixed axis of rotation disposed in parallelism with a line whichintersects at right angles the longitudinal axis of each of said needleand presser bars, an elongated threadengaging hook having itslongitudinal axis disposed substantially in parallelism with said fixedaxis, said hook being supported upon said bearing surface for turningmovements about said fixed axis thereby to shift said hook into and outof alignment with the needle-eye, and means connecting said hook withsaid bearing surface and affording a rocking axis disposed at rightangles to said fixed axis thereby to provide a means for shifting saidhook back and forth between said needle and presser bars and into andout of the needle-eye whenever said hook is disposed in alignment withthe needle-eye.

6. In a sewing machine having a reciprocatory needle-bar, an eye-pointedneedle carried by said needle-bar and a presser-bar disposed inparallelism with said needle-bar and in substantial alignment with theneedle-eye, the combination therewith of a needle-threading device,comprising, a bearing surface provided upon said needlebar and defininga fixed axis of rotation disposed in parallelism with a line whichintersects at right angles the longitudinal axis of each of said needleand presser bars, an elongated threadengaging hook having itslongitudinal axis disposed substantially in parallelism with said fixedaxis, said hook being supported upon said hearing surface for turningmovements about said fixed axis thereby to shift said hook into and outof alignment with the needle-eye, means connecting said hook with saidbearing surface and afiording a rocking axisidisposed at right anglestocssaidr fixed axis thereby to provide ameans for shifting'saidhook.back and forth between said needle and presser bars and into and out ofthe needle-eye whenever said hook is disposed in alignment therewith,and means carried by said needle-bar for releasably locking said hook ineither of two angularly spaced positions of its turning movement aboutsaid fixed axis thereby to maintain said hook either in or out of aposition of alignment with the needle-eye.

7. In a sewing machine having a reciprocatory needle-bar, an eye-pointedneedle carried by said needle-bar, and a presser-bar disposed inparallelism with said needle-bar and in substantial alignment with theneedle eyetthe combination therewith of a needle-threading device,comprising an elongated arm having its upper end portion pivotallymounted upon said needle-bar about an axis disposed in parallelism witha line 8 which. intersects at right angles the longitudinal axis. ofeach .ofsaid needle and presser bars, the intermediate portion of saidher being flexible about an axis disposed at right angles to the pivotalaxis, and an elongated thread-engaging hook carried upon the other endportion of said arm and being disposed with its longitudinal axis insubstantial parallelism with the axis of pivotal movement of said arm.

ANDREW P. FJLIP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES vlEAfI'ENTS Number Name Date 321,469 Wilson July 7, 1885392,626 Miner Nov. 13., 1888 1,246,199 Werner Nov. 13, 191-7

